A dozen suspected tornadoes tore across at least three states on Thursday, with forecasters warning of more to come on Friday.
Severe weather hit Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan, with 80-mph winds and widespread power outages. At least 150 million people are under thunderstorm watches heading into the weekend. Forecasters warned of severe thunderstorms and strong tornadoes that include “intense supercells associated with tornadoes, large hail and wind damage” on Friday, with gusts exceeding 75 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
The threats have forced schools to dismiss students in Kentucky early, according to USA TODAY. Indiana schools closed on Friday morning after power outages, FOX 32 reported.
More than 261,000 residents were left without power in Michigan as a result of the storms Thursday night, with Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, reporting similar issues, according to tracking site poweroutage.us.
Trees and power lines were ripped up, and Beyoncé concert-goers at the open-air Soldier Field, in Chicago, were drenched in the rain, prompting fans to seek cover, officials said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had warned of gusting winds in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park, and social media users posted videos of the downpour online.
No deaths have been reported following the storms as yet.
But, more bad weather is on the way. A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for Friday in north-central and northeast Arkansas, southern Illinois, southwest Indiana, western Kentucky, southeastern Missouri, and northwest Tennessee. Officials said there was also an “enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms” across central and eastern Kansas and far northern Oklahoma.
“Scattered severe thunderstorms are expected to develop and move rapidly northeast across the watch area early this morning. Large hail and damaging thunderstorm gusts will be the primary severe weather hazard, although a tornado or two will also be possible,” NOAA said.
So far, there have been more than 750 preliminary tornado reports in 2025, which is more reports by mid-May than any other year since 2011.
“It has been an exceptionally dangerous start to the spring severe weather season in the U.S.,” AccuWeather chief on-air meteorologist Bernie Rayno said in a statement.
“We’ve seen a steep increase in the number of tornado reports during March and early April. Unfortunately, we expect these numbers to continue climbing over the next few days.”
Severe weather last year resulted in the second-highest number of tornadoes since record-keeping began in 1950, according to the National Weather Service. Despite the near-historic year, the 54 tornado-related deaths were well below the 20-year average. More than half of those occurred in mobile and manufactured homes.
This year, deadly tornadoes have torn across much of the eastern U.S., with additional reports in the Los Angeles area in March.
Mississippians struck by the storms were forced to hide inside their cars as tornadoes annihilated their homes.
A month later, tornadoes killed people in the South and Midwest, launching debris into the air. Tornadoes can occur at any time, but typically peak from March through June.
